


Shattered Ice

by PrayForRain



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Dealing With Loss, Family, Fluff and Angst, Gen, some OCs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 16:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/599908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrayForRain/pseuds/PrayForRain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack doesn't remember much after his fall through the ice. He remembers the joy he felt, knowing that he had saved his sister, and then he remembers hearing the crack and feeling the sudden and sharp cold, but then, there is nothing but darkness.</p><p>His family wasn’t so lucky. What happens after he falls through the ice? How does his family, especially his little sister, cope with his loss? Did they ever move on?</p><p>Jack wants to find out, but is he prepared for the emotional toll that his journey might take?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shattered Ice

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! RotG really affected me when I saw it and I immediately wanted to write a fanfiction, but I really had no clue what to write it on. Then, after messing around on Tumblr, I found a post about the lack of closure, about what his family must have gone through, and I just had to write it. I know that the idea has probably been done to death, but here is my take on it.
> 
> Oh, and I decided to name his sister Sally. I don't know why, but she just looked like a Sally to me and I couldn't find a name for her anywhere else! There are also a few OCs. I was thinking of maybe doing like a series about what his life was like before he was a Guardian? But I don't know yet. Let me know if you think it would be a good idea, and thanks for reading!

**Shattered Ice**

Jack didn’t remember much after his fall through the ice. All he remembered was the explosion of joy, the happiness he felt in the knowledge of his sister’s safety. He remembered hearing the crack, but he hadn’t felt any fear. He had never once worried about what would happen to him. When the ice crumbled away beneath him, he only felt a sharp cold as he hit the water, and then there was nothing but darkness. He supposed he must have inhaled almost immediately, resulting in his quick and almost painless death.

His family wasn’t so lucky. People were always sad about the ones who died, but really, the pity should have been with those left behind to pick up the pieces of a life that would never be the same, a life that would then be much like the shattered ice that he had fallen through.

When he realized what he had done for his sister, it hadn’t quite set in what it must have been like for her after he had died. But returning to the Pole with North and the other Guardians, he couldn’t help but wonder about her, and then his parents. His mother must have been beside herself.

So, with a heavy heart, he had went to Tooth’s palace and made a request that he knew would change his life; he asked for his sister’s teeth.

“Jack, I’m really not sure if I can do that…”

“Please. I…it’s been driving me crazy. I have to know what happened to her.”

Tooth bit her lower lip, clearly torn. “Being the tooth fairy is sort of like being a doctor; each ‘patient’ is entitled to a certain amount of privacy, and without someone’s consent, it seems in poor taste to just hand out one’s memories, no matter how dear the person asking for them is to me.”

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” Jack said, and that stung, it really did, but it was true. He had woken up 300 years ago, and even then he wasn’t sure how long he had been dead before being awakened by the Man in the Moon. His sister couldn’t be alive anymore. He just wanted to know that she had lived a full life, and he wanted to know what had happened to his mother and father.

“Well, yes, but—“

“But nothing. How can it hurt, showing her brother what her life ended up being? These memories…if I had lived, I would have seen them happening when they happened, right? So, it’s really not an invasion of privacy.”

Tooth sighed. “I suppose that’s true…”

“Please. I need this. I need…I need closure.”

Tooth’s face softened, and Jack knew he had won. “Very well,” she said, and he let out a short “whoop!”, pumping his fist through the air. “But!” she said pointedly, causing him to pause in his celebrations, “You have to understand that you may not get to see all of her life. These are baby teeth, and as such, generally hold onto memories only for as long as you believe in the Guardians. And if you do see all of her life, you’ll have to be prepared for what kind of emotional toll that may have.

“Understood. I’ll take whatever I can get.”

Tooth gave him a long, appraising look, then turned to Baby Tooth, giving her orders. The tiny fairy darted off and returned a moment later, dropping a tooth box into his hand. This was it, he told himself.

“Thanks,” he said, and a gust of wind picked him up. “I’ll bring these back in a bit. I really think I should be alone for this.”

“Okay. Come back here, soon. Especially if…” Tooth hesitated.

“If what?”

“If you don’t like what you see. If it’s too much to bear, or if you just want someone to talk to about it, I’ll be here, and so will Baby Tooth.”

Jack beamed at her. “I know. Thanks for everything!” And with that, he swooped away to his small cabin at the Pole, which North had given to him for whenever Winter was on a holiday. Jack didn’t spend a whole lot of time there—he’d always been a bit of a wanderer—but it was nice to have a place to call home when he couldn’t be enjoying a Snow Day with Jamie and his pals.

He secured the door closed upon entering and then made his way over to the hammock that had been his bed. Climbing into it, he stared at the small portrait on the box—his sister.

Gently, he ran his thumb across it and closed his eyes, allowing the memories to wash over him…

~*~

“Jack!” the scream echoed in the woods, as Sally Overland stared at the hole that her brother had just fallen through. “This isn’t funny! Jack! If this is some kind of trick…”

A small group of bubbles rose briefly to the surface before vanishing, but otherwise, there was no response.

Sally crept closer to the hole, but paused, her heartbeat pounding in her small chest as the ice made an awful sound. “Jack?” she asked, this time quieter. Tears sprang into her eyes and then she stood, abruptly wiping away the tears. “I’ll get help and be right back, I promise! Just…wait for me! And…and don’t be afraid!”

Sally knew that her feet would be cold, but she quickly shirked her ice skates and tossed them aside, running pell-mell towards the village. Branches and brambles snagged at her dress as she ran, small thorns slicing cuts into her little hands, but she ignored them. Jack was in trouble, and this time, he couldn’t get himself out of it.

“Someone!” she shouted when the village of Burgess came into view. Her vision was well and truly clouded by tears now, as she had been unable to stop them between her fear for her brother and the sharp, cold wind. Her thick woolen socks were soaked through by the snow, making her feet hurt as well, which certainly didn’t help her avoid crying. “Help! Please! Help!”

One of the villagers, a hunter’s apprentice named William turned to her, a brace of conies tossed over his shoulder. He looked a lot like Jack, but was slightly brawnier, with green eyes instead of brown. He and Jack were best friends, often getting into trouble together although that seemed to happen a lot less of late, as Will was often on hunting trips and Jack seemed disinclined to grow up in any capacity. “Sally? What’s the matter? Where’s your boots?”

“Help, please, Jack…” she gasped out as he knelt in front of her, setting his catch on the ground beside him. A small group of curious villager was beginning to gather, but Sally couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering as she tried to tell them what happened. “He…and then the ice…and I couldn’t…”

“You need to calm down and tell me what happened. Where’s Jack? What did he do this time?” William said, his voice full of patience as he placed hands on either one of her shoulders.

“The ice! It started to break, and he…and he…” sobs were interrupting her sentences but she pressed on, determined to help him. “I was scared, but he said, ‘don’t be afraid, we’ll have fun instead’ and then he started hopping sideways on the ice, and told me to do the same, but he grabbed me with his stick and threw me! He threw me right over, to the solid ice where I’d be safe, and then…”

“Woah, woah. Slow down. Is he alright? Where is he?” Will said, and even he couldn’t keep the panic out of his voice.

“He fell in!”

The village began murmuring and Will’s face darkened. “Everyone, we don’t have a minute to waste. Gather anybody who is able and get some rope and whatever blankets we can spare. Mary, take Sally to her mother before she gets frost bite.”

Mary, an older girl that Sally looked up to, quickly nodded and moved to pick her up, but Sally struggled. “No! He needs me! I told him I’d come back for him, I promised!”

“Shh, we’ll bring him back, okay? Just go home for now. He wouldn’t be happy if you got sick because of him, would he?” Will said.

Sally paused and then, slowly, she shook her head, and Mary wrapped a blanket someone handed to her around Sally’s small shoulders. “Will?” Mary said, and he paused, turning back to her. “He’s going to be alright, won’t he?”

“Jack? Of course he will be. It takes more than a little cold to keep ol’ Jackson Overland down,” Will said, trying to smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

The scene shifted and blurred, and Sally was back home, wrapped in several blankets and her mother’s arms. Katherine Overland was a kind woman, with just the barest hint of mischief in her dark brown eyes; Sally and Jack’s father often told them that Jack had gotten his naughty streak from her, but Sally had never quite believed it. She was always telling them to ‘be careful’ and ‘avoid trouble’ and always panicked whenever they stepped too far out of bounds. Now, Sally could understand why.

Darkness had fallen outside, and the only source of light in the small cottage was a dying fire as Katherine rocked Sally back and forth, humming some song under her breath to keep her mind occupied. However, the longer it took for word to return of Jack’s safety, the more the humming began to sound like a funeral dirge.

The door suddenly creaked open and her father, George, stepped inside. Katherine all but leapt to her feet, setting Sally carefully aside as she gave her husband a hopeful look. “Is he…?” she began, but one look at her father’s face and suddenly, Sally knew: Jack wasn’t coming home.

Katherine made a low keening noise in the back of her throat and collapsed, her husband rushing forward to catch her and clutching her tightly to his broad chest, gently lowering them both to the ground. As Katherine sobbed, a single tear dripped from her father’s eye and slid slowly down his face. It was the single most heartbreaking display of grief that Sally had ever seen, and it was an image that would last her a lifetime.

Slowly, she stood and moved over to her parents, who both pulled her into the embrace. They all sat like this for hours, each grieving deeply and clutching tightly to one another, trying to reform the now shattered surface of the frozen pond that was their family, longing for the one piece of their life that they would never, ever get back.

The scene shifted once more. The entire village stood around a great pile of sticks with a brown cloak and a pair of ice skates on top of it; it was all that they had managed to retrieve of her brother, all that they would be able to use for his funeral. Sally was flanked by both of her parents, each resting a hand on one of her shoulders, but she didn’t understand why. It wasn’t like they could bring him back by touching one another. The warmth of their hands only served to remind her that her brother would never feel that warmth again, and it was all her fault.

Her mother was still crying steadily beside her, and her father stood like a statue, trying to keep his head up and proud despite his grief. Sally’s own face was a careful mask of indifference—she had done enough crying. A small white rose was clutched in her hand—it had been all that they could find, all that could bloom in this frozen landscape, but somehow, she felt it suited him.

As she watched, Will stepped forward and placed his rose on the pile of sticks, then turned to face the village, his eyes in particular seeking out Sally’s. “We have lost an important part of our community,” he began, his voice quivering. Whether from the cold or from grief, Sally couldn’t say with certainty. “A young man I considered to be my best friend. There isn’t a single person here who hasn’t been touched by him—his jokes brought a smile to all of our faces at one point or another. He was always getting into trouble, and dragging me along for the ride. I used to complain. In fact, the last time I saw him, he invited me to go sledding with him and I refused. What I wouldn’t give to go back and change that now.” Will closed his eyes, fighting back tears and Sally felt her own determination to not cry wavering in the face of his sadness. “Jack, you died a hero, and I promise I’ll look after Sally for you. You’ll be missed, old buddy. This village is a sadder place without you in it.”

Will stepped aside, unable to stop himself from crying anymore. Katherine stepped up next, pulling Sally and her husband along with her. Sally placed her rose on the pyre, sitting down in front of it and staring at the skates that had belonged to her brother.

Her mother began to speak. “The last thing I said to him was ‘Be careful.’ He smiled at me and promised that he and Sally would do just that. I never imagined that it would be the last time I saw his smiling face. I had said it a million  times, and he always came back to me. Always.” Katherine sniffed, forcing herself to speak, to get her feelings off her chest. “Even so, he saved his sister. I couldn’t have asked for a son to make me any prouder, any happier, than he did. He brought joy to our lives every single day. Worry, too,” the crowd gave a half-hearted chuckle at this, “Lots of worry. I used to say that that boy would be the death of me. I never, ever thought that he would die before I did. But the way he died, a hero, brings comfort to my heart. I may have lost a son, but I—“

“Stop it! Just stop!” Sally couldn’t stop the shout that exploded out of her, shocking her mother into silence as she turned her tearful face to the crowd. “How do you think it makes me feel, knowing that he died to save me? It doesn’t bring me joy, or happiness. It brings me guilt! He shouldn’t have done it. He never should have tried to save me!”

Sally shot to her feet and then ran headlong into the forest, ignoring her parents as they called out for her to stop. She ran and ran, until her legs gave out and she collapsed to the snow-covered ground. Dragging her knees up to her chest, she let the tears come again, hard and bitter and ugly, her nose running as she cursed her brother over and over, and then apologized a second later because she never could stay mad at Jack.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” came a voice, making her jump into a proper sitting position. Will stepped out of the shadows of the trees, taking a seat next to her. “Wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”

“What does it matter?” she said, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her dress. “I’d catch a cold inside, too. It’s this dratted weather…”

Will took off his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. “I always liked the cold. Jack, did, too. Remember, we used to call him ‘Jack Frost,’ because he’d get so excited when the first snow came.”

“Well, Jack Frost is an idiot. The cold took him away from me.”

“Yeah, he was an idiot,” Will said, and Sally shot a glare at him before punching him in the arm. “Ow! What was that for!?”

“Don’t call him that! Only I can; he’s my brother!” she paused, her words hitting her harder than she expected. “Was. He _was_ my brother.” Sally buried her face in her arms, her hair falling loosely about her shoulders.

Will tugged her closer. “Hey, look, don’t think of him like that. I said it would take more than the cold to take out ol’ Jack and I meant it. He may not physically be here with us, but he’ll always be here in spirit. When you feel the cold nipping at your nose, that’s Jack Frost. When the first snow comes to Burgess, that’s Jack Frost. He’s here, in everything and everyone. I think he’d be very mad at you for giving up on him.”

Sally bit her lip. “So, do you think I’ll ever see him again?”

“I don’t just think it, I know it. And who knows Jack better than I do?”

Sally slowly smiled. “Nobody. Can you tell me a story about him?”

“Sure thing, Sally. But first, why don’t we go home? Your parents are very worried about you.”

She made a face. “They’re probably really mad at me.”

“Nah, parents can be pretty forgiving. Let’s go. We might make it in time to see them light up the pyre.”

Sally nodded, and the two of them made their way back to Burgess.

Another shift. Sally was perched on a branch, her leg dangling over the side of it as she peered down at the village. It had been a tough few years, and Sally had grown up quite a bit. Since Jack was no longer there to bring mischief, Sally had dedicated herself to being everything that he had once been. She even held onto a shepherd’s stick, much like the one he had used to rescue her from the ice.

“Sally?” a boy’s voice called up into the tree. “What are you doing up there?”

“Waiting for Jack Frost!” she tossed back down at him. “It’s going to snow soon—I can feel it.”

“There hasn’t been any precipitation for weeks. What makes you think that anything will happen tonight?” The boy said, beginning to climb up the tree. His hand slipped, and Sally quickly darted out with the shepherd’s stick, helping him to regain his balance and finish the climb, so that now they were sitting next to each other on the branch.

“Didn’t I tell you? My brother’s Jack Frost.” She grinned at him, then tapped the side of her nose. “I can sense these things.”

“Who’s Jack Frost?”

“He brings the first snow! And one day, I’ll see him again.”

The boy chuckled. “You’re crazy, Sally Overland.”

“You say that now, but…” Sally stood up on the branch, causing it to shake though her balance remained true. She laid the shepherd’s stick across her shoulders, staring up at the moon, which was bright and full. “You’ll see. It’s going to snow.”

“There aren’t even any clouds in the sky.”

Sally sighed dramatically. “Oh, Tommy Hammond of Little Faith, I know you’re new here, but you’ll see. Jack Frost doesn’t need clouds—he brings them himself.”

Tommy stood up, much less sure-footed than Sally as he clutched at the tree’s trunk for support. “Okay, how about a bet?”

“A bet?” Sally made a face.

“Yeah, a bet. If it doesn’t snow, you have to…” Tommy thought about it for a minute, then grinned. “You’ll have to kiss me. And if it does snow…”

“I’ll have to kiss you anyways,” Sally supplied, and Tommy blushed as she stepped closer, leaning forward a bit. Just before their lips met, however, she paused. “And, you’ll have to admit that Jack Frost is real.”

“Deal.”

Slowly, their lips met. It was Sally’s first kiss, and though she was nervous, she didn’t allow it to show. She’d had a crush on Tommy for some time now, ever since he and his family had moved into Burgess and Will had introduced them. The kiss was pure and chaste, and as each closed their eyes, a cold wind swept through the air, rustling the leaves as it moved.

A tiny, wet snowflake landed on her nose, followed by a couple more which landed softly in their hair and on their clothes, until the snow was falling steadily, a never ending shower of white.

They parted and Tommy looked about in surprise as the snow tumbled all around them. “You’re amazing.”

“No,” she said, grinning, “Jack Frost is amazing. Now, let’s go play in the snow!” As Sally grabbed his hand to jump out of the tree, the scene shifted again, and a small, beautiful church appeared, the doors flying open as a now grown Sally tumbled out of it, one hand clutching at the veil on her head and the other holding onto Tommy Hammond’s hand.

Burgess had changed. Where once there had been only small cottages made mostly of straw and wood, there was now several houses built out of white stone and a small church in the center of it. It was still a small village, but it appeared that progress had finally reached it, transforming it little by little.

As Sally and Tommy reached the bottom of the stairs, she tossed her bouquet behind her, leaping into Tommy’s arms as the bridesmaids, which had come out behind her, began wrestling for it.

Even as Tommy spun her around, snow began to fall from the heavens. “Looks like Jack Frost approves of our marriage,” Tommy said as Sally poked out her tongue, trying to catch the snowflakes.

“Of course he does.” She placed a firm kiss to his lips. “You’re a fine man. Now, let’s go home.”

Another shift. Sally sat beside the bed of two little children, a boy and a girl. “Mother, can you tell us a story about Uncle Jack?” the boy asked, and he truly was the spitting image of her brother. The same big brown eyes, mischievous smile and messy hair.

“Ohh, yes, those are my favorite!” the girl said, clapping her hands.

Sally chuckled. “Okay, but you have to promise me that you’ll go to sleep immediately after.”

“We promise!” the children said in unison.

“Jack Frost wasn’t always a magical spirit. In the beginning, he was just a regular boy, who loved getting his sister in trouble…”

The shifts were coming faster and faster now, images flashing quickly before disappearing. Finally, it settled on one final scene. Sally, now very old with her hair tied up in a scraggly white bun, lay in bed, her husband clutching her hand tightly in his own as he sat next to her bedside.

“Sally, my love,” he said, stroking her hand, “It’s going to snow tonight.”

Her seemingly ancient face broke out in a grin. “You’re crazy. There aren’t even any clouds in the sky.”

“Ah, but Jack Frost doesn’t need the clouds. He brings them himself.” As she chuckled at their old joke, he brought her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it gently.

“I’m going to see him soon, Tommy,” she said, sounding suddenly serious. Tommy paused, and she continued. “But I need your help. I want to be outside.”

“But, my love, it’s too cold!” he said, “You’ll catch your death.”

“I’m dying anyways. Please, take me out there. I must see him, just once, before I go.”

“You’ll see him after, won’t you?”

“Oh, no,” Sally said, shaking her head and waving her hand dismissively at the same time. “Where I am going, he won’t be able to follow. His place, it’s here on Earth, bringing joy and fun to children all across the globe.”

“You truly believe that old story, don’t you?” Tommy responded.

“Don’t you?” Sally challenged.

He paused, then, slowly, he smiled. “I guess I do. Well, come on, then. Let’s get you out of bed, shall we?”

He helped maneuver her into a sitting position and then gently tugged her to her feet, wrapping her robe about her and then adding a blanket, for good measure. Then, ever so slowly, he helped bring her out of the room and out of the house, depositing her on a bench in their small garden. He sat next to her, pulling her into his arms and holding tightly.

“Do you see him yet?” he asked his wife of 50 years.

“Not just yet. He was always one for making quite an entrance. Keep your eyes to the moon—it’s a full one tonight.”

It seemed like hours, the two of them just sitting there, holding onto one another as they stared up at the moon. Their eldest daughter brought them each a cup of warm tea and asked if they wanted a light, but Sally assured her that it was quite alright, and they were alone again. Eventually, Sally began to snooze.

Just before she drifted off however, Tommy nudged her shoulder. “My love, look!” he said, and slowly, her eyes opened. The snow was beginning to fall, but her eyes were aimed dead at the moon, where a figure suddenly soared by, laughing merrily as he surfed across several flat rooftops then did a somersault off of one, shooting into the sky and disappearing.

“That was him, wasn’t it!?” Tommy said excitedly, and Sally laughed.

“Oh, it was, it was!” Sally crowed delightedly.

“I can’t believe my very own eyes. Was that a shepherd’s stick he was running with? Just like the one you used to carry with you everywhere?”

“Indeed, it was his idea you know.  He saved me with just such a stick. Ah, to see his face again. Why, he’s almost as grey as me now, though his face hasn’t aged a day!” Sally sighed, nestling further into his arms. “So full of energy, he is. But me, I’m old now. Old and tired…”

“Now that you’ve seen him, why don’t we go back inside, hm?” Tommy said, but there was no response. He glanced down at her, seeing how still she was in his arms. “My love?”

Again, no response. “Oh, my love,” he got out, burying his face in her white hair as the realization dawned on him that she was gone.

The image blurred and faded, and then, everything was dark once more.

~*~

Jack came back to himself with a start, dropping the box to the ground and covering his face with his hands. All this time, waiting for people to believe in him, and all he had to do was see his sister once more. She had never stopped believing in him, even well into old age. She had seen him, had truly seen him, and he had just swooped on by, completely oblivious. He wished he had known, had gotten to see her one last time, to hug her one last time…

There was a sudden sound, like crystal breaking, and he looked down to see that one of his tears had dripped from his eyes and turned to ice, shattering on the ground. He wiped at his face; he hadn’t known he even _could_ cry, but even that was changed now that he was a Guardian.

Suddenly, his door swung open and he looked up to see not only Tooth, but North, Bunnymund and Sandy as well.

“I told them, Jack,” she said, “I’m sorry, I tried to tell them you needed space but…”

“No, it’s fine,” Jack said, dragging the sleeve of his sweatshirt across his face once more to make sure there was no remnants of his crying before reaching down to retrieve the box. Slowly, he handed it over to Tooth.

“See, I told you it would be fine,” North said, his voice loud and booming. “When sad, it is important to be surrounded by those you love.”

Sandy bounced and nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

“Uh…you okay, kid?” Bunny asked and Jack nodded, forcing a smile.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“What did you see?” Tooth asked hesitantly.

“She never stopped believing,” he said, the smile fading a bit, “All this time, I was trying to find someone that could see me, and she was right there under my nose. The one person…” A strange hiccupping sound came out of him, and then he was crying, tiny ice crystals dropping to the floor and shattering, one after another.

North, Tooth and Sandy exchanged a look and then they all moved in, wrapping him in a group hug. He let them, lacking the strength to push them away. Eventually, even Bunny, tough as he was, joined in the hug, and for the first time in over 300 years, he felt warmth begin to surround him.

Sally had wondered long ago why her parents had bothered placing their hands on her shoulders when they were grieving—now, he understood. It let you know that it was okay to grieve, and most importantly, that you weren’t left alone, picking up the pieces of a shattered life that would never quite be the same.

**The End**

 


End file.
